A World Parralleled, part 2
by DragonGirl23
Summary: Follow Up to Part II


"You can't be serious," Buffy sighed, still staring around the vast chamber in awe. Now that she had a moment to fully understand the situation, she took in the sight before her gracefully. The room was an obvious underground chamber, she realized, dark and shadowy with pillars to support the cavern itself. And yet it hardly looked like a cavern, anyway. The walls were painted murals of scenes that had taken place, painted entricately with a delicate hand and colored quite brilliantly. Decorations decked the walls where torches sat, embedded in the nooks and crannies, and the many women that were gathered there were scattered oddly around the place, staring intently at the newcomers, herself, Xander, and Willow. "Slayers?" Buffy whispered, partly to herself in essence. "But of course," Ashinah explained. "I thought there was only one," Buffy said, curious. "Nonsense," Ashinah replied, "There was but one slayer centuries ago, and since then we have multiplied, for we alone who have drunk of the Glass of Trinton have the strength to resist and overcome Pardozza and her minions." "The Glass of Trinton?" Buffy asked, more confused than ever. How could there possibly be a source which creates slayers? "Yes," she replied, "It is the source of all our power, and our immunity to the spell, however, it can only be drunk from by first-born females of every third generation since the dawn of time. We have come to believe that you are a slayer already, is this not true?" "Well, yeah," Buffy replied. She continued to gaze around the huge room in awe, looking intently into the eyes of each and every slayer present. They were tall and short, all slender and looked as though they were once most beautiful. And yet each and every one, in some way, was flawed in some particularly drastic way. Buffy saw one girl who was missing three fingers on her right hand, another who had no left foot up to the knee, but wore a metal brace, and several others with too many numerous disabilities to name. And there was Ashinah...Ashinah who was ever so beautiful, and yet was scarred so drastically with what looked like had been a blade of some sort. Buffy was almost ashamed for staring, and yet they did not seem to mind, and looked back with something like admiration on their faces. "But which of you is the main slayer?" she asked, "Are there any here that haven't drunk from the glass?" "Yes," Ashinah replied, looking at her intently, green eyes seeming to change from any angle that she was looked at, "I am that one." "So you are the main slayer," Buffy said softly. "Yes," Ashinah replied. "But how did I get here?" Buffy asked, "Do I have some purpose?" "But the most important purpose of all, Buffy," Ashinah replied soberly, "You are the only one who can defeat Pardozza, for we have heard that you have killed numerous vampires before." "And you haven't?" Buffy asked, still bewildered. Who'd ever heard of a slayer who'd never actually slain anything? She crossed her hands across her chest and looked Ashinah with a somewhat mocking glare. "Why, no!" she said, "I haven't had the pleasure to come close to killing one." "Why don't you just run up there and stake them?" Buffy asked. "What them?" Ashinah asked, her face crinkling into an odd expression. "Stake them," Buffy replied simply, "You know, stab them with a wooden stick in the heart." "I've never heard this," the other replied. "Well no wonder you've never killed one!" Buffy exclaimed, "You just have to hit them hard with a wooden stake in the heart." "Are there any other ways to kill them?" Ashinah asked. Buffy laughed softly, glancing around at a similarly amused Willow and Xander. "Sunlight kills them." "Of course! The sun! Is this why they hold all ritual sacrifices at night?" Ashinah asked. "That'd be my guess," Buffy said, "Unless they want to be piles of dust before they even get any blood. Hey, don't you guys have a watcher or something?" Buffy asked. "A what?" "A watcher," she replied, "You know, old British guy who tells you stuff." "I know not of this," Ashinah replied, quite confused by this time. "Never mind," Buffy said with a grin, "Sure I'll help you...there's just one thing." "What is it?" Ashinah asked thoughtfully. "We'd like to go home afterwards." "Yes I see," she said with a smile, "We can open a porthole for you, but you must be careful not to bring back any elements of this time." "Right," Buffy said, giving her an obvious look and turning back to Willow and Xander. "Well," she began again, partly to them, partly to the others in the room, "If we're gonna slay them, we'd better get at it." 

Pardozza flung a violent swing across Darion's right cheek, slamming him across the room and into a wooden beam which supported her magnificent dwelling. He whimpered slightly as he hit the wall, smashing his ribs. "You led her straight to me!" Pardozza cried, swinging her toe into Darion's stomach. He coughed, sucking in the air eagerly. "I--" he began. "Enough of this!" she cried, "I should just kill you now." She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him firmly from the floor until his feet dangled above the ground. He sputtered and coughed, not quite struggling. "Did I not promise you all that you wanted?" Pardozza asked him, her eyes flaring. "Yes, my queen," he managed to squeak. "And did I not promise you youth and happiness? All the sex and drugs you need for your own?" "Yes, but--" "And did I not keep my word?" "I--" "All I ask in return is your cooperation, Darion, my dear," she said in a rage, tightening her hold around his fragile neck. "I did not know," he said solemnly, half choking, half sobbing, and still writhing beneath her firm grasp. She looked at him again, eyes brightening for a moment at his beauty, hi full, half-parted lips and his wet eyes, long eyelashes and silken hair. She put him down and he groaned slightly, feeling his ribs jolt upon impact. "Oh, love," she said, the anger leaving her like a flowing river. She stroked his cheek slightly as he looked into her eyes, pained and hurt. He was truly the most wonderful thing, she realized. And he trembled beneath her touch, hated this with such intensity that it clouded his mind. He coughed once more and she looked at him strangely. It had been nearly eight years ago that she had caught sight of him, this gorgeous and appealing young boy, and she'd taken an immediately liking to him, but deep within his private thoughts, though he knew her as his queen, and honored her words and actions, Darion knew he'd always resent what she'd done to him, at the tender young age of only sixteen, she'd made him her slave, and he did only what she wanted of him. But every time her icy flesh touched his, he shivered uncontrollably, still afraid, and yet nervous, a trained puppy. She moved her fingers over his lips and he kissed them lightly, which seemed to make her happy. She lifted him to his feet and he kissed her, still discusted and enraged, but clung like a child to the blanket of her protection. She drew back slightly and looked at him with a sensual smile. "My dear, come," she said, taking his hand and turning him to face the bed nearby. It was a luxurious and large bed, and it was covered with mound upon mound of soft pillows, which Darion knew only too well. He wore the extra earring of one of the queen's chosen, marking him as property to the others. She laid down on the bed in the most interesting fashion and motioned for him to come. "Entertain me, my pet," she said softly. With a small sigh he went to her. It was a far, far better thing, he believed, to be alive and the slave of a queen, than to be dead, and the sacrifice of that very woman. 

"Why are all these chicks so messed up?" Xander asked under his breath. "I have no idea," Buffy said to him. They were all in another chamber of the underground lair of the slayers, sharpening and whittling stakes and polishing weapons of silver and of regular metal to fend off the mortal assilants. "And I've noticed," he said, drawing closer to her ear, "That they have a real thing for me." "Just horny," Buffy replied matter-of-factly. "Easy for you to say," Xander said, "You don't have messed up "slayer" chicks buzzing around you all the time." "And that I'm thankful for," Buffy said, intent on completing her stake by the next night. "Well Ashinah says that the vamps are having another ritual sacrifice tonight, so we better work fast if we want to get this overwith so we can go home," Willow said from her place on Buffy's right. "I was just wondering," Buffy said, "What will happen to all those people out there under Pardozza's spell...what's their role in all of this?" "I think that they'll be fine once we kill Pardozza and all," Willow said, "But until then, they'll do anything she says, including attacking and/or killing us. But if you're worried about Darion, I have no idea." "Yeah, well..." Buffy said. She looked back down at the stake and completed it with admirable agility. "We'd better be handing all these stakes out soon," she said, "For sunset occurs in ten minutes." And so they readied themselves and the others, presenting several stakes to all those present, who were also armed with guns and swords. Buffy told them briefly of the plan. "We'll have to surround the area," she began, "Making it impossible for them to leave. Then I'll have to get to the stage area...of course, Ashinah, Carette, and Donieah will accompany me." She glanced over at the three women nearby, who nodded. "Then," she continued, "You need to hold down all of the people watching...use any force necessary, okay? Just keep them off of that stage. Then Willow, Xander, and I will make a quick get-away via a world-transcending porthole back to our world. Got it?" She glanced around the room quickly and smiled sweetly, and with a hopeful tone, Buffy said, "Ashinah, Carette, Donieah--let's go." The three followed her to the surface, and once they had reached it, Buffy looked at each of them in turn. Carette was a short blond woman with a scarred gash from her right shoulder down to her abdomen, with bright, beautiful blue eyes and tanned skin. She was a good candidate, for Buffy had seen her in action, and boy, the girl knew how to handle herself. Donieah was Ashinah's best friend, and a brunette with full, pouty lips and a missing ear. She too was an excellent fighter, and if Ashinah trusted her, Buffy supposed that she could too. With a nod, Buffy lead the small party into the night and towards the stage when the music began...that enchanting music that had held her friends so enrapt. Willow and Xander weren't attending the battle as they would probably follow the music, considering they weren't immuned. They reached the area shortly after the main group of men and women gathered by the stage. The music was as it had been before, and so reminded Buffy of the Pied Piper and the children of the unfortunate town named in the fairytale. And with a horrified gasp, Buffy glanced up at the stage. There was Pardozza, and next to her, amongst the vampires, was the lucious Darion. However, he did not seem to be in any immediate danger, so Buffy disregarded his presence and pressed on with her small make-shift army of four. The attack was staged perfectly, and when the bullets and other various weapons began raining down on the crowd, they were helpless to prevent it, held in place by the assiliants. Buffy and the other three rushed the stage without much trouble as Pardozza looked about angrily, shoving her vampire helpers into place in front of herself and Darion, who looked mostly bewildered and overall more or less scared. "Kill them, you fools!" she shrieked, becoming more and more upset by the minute. And so the vampires rushed them, however they seemed to be young and stupid, and Buffy observed there to be only about eight of them. She killed four herself and the others took on the remainder, leaving only Pardozza to defend herself. The crowd below was in an uproar, struggling madly to break free and aide their leader. Darion stood on stupidly, gazing at Buffy as if from a dream, his eyes wide and unmoving. "Slayers," Pardozza whispered dangerously, "How nice of you to join us." "Yeah, well, I guess our invitations got lost in the mail," Buffy said sarcastically, "Just thought we'd drop in." "Yes, well then," Pardozza said. She took a deep breath and brought her fists into a tight clasp before her. "Spirits of power, fire and might, bring for me, unholy light!" she cried into the night. Immediately her hands began to glow a bright orangish red, and she directed them in the slayers' direction, sending sparks and numerous shafts of vicious light towards them. Buffy judged quickly that no good could come of that, and so she jumped away and rolled back to her feet, taking a fighting stance with her stake. The others had dodged as well, and yet Carette had been hit partly by the vicious stream of red, and it had opened a vicious gash in her side. She shrieked in pain, and Buffy glanced over pitingly, however she had no time to react to that as Pardozza had wound up once more. The light came this time in and endlessly tumbling shaft, and Buffy dodged this one too, sprinting forward towards the flaming ball that was Pardozza herself. Buffy jabbed with the sharp wood piece but Pardozza deflected it, slamming Buffy's arm backwards. However, it was obvious now that her magic didn't work at close range, and so the slayer took advantage of the situation and sunk her book under the queen's feet, sending her down onto the stage with a bone-shuddering crash. Buffy raised the stake over her head just as Pardozza called out to Darion, who still stood nearby. "Come to me, dearest!" she shouted. Darion rushed forward almost too quick for Buffy and landed a stunning blow to her head. As she leapt up and raised her eyes to the attacker, she met his blazing eyes, so utterly consumed by a magic force greater than his own heart that she almost had to pity him, though her head throbbed painfully where he'd hit her. "Darion!" Buffy cried, "Don't make me hurt you! You're not a part of this!" "You're wrong, Buffy!" he shouted back, "I'm a bigger part of this than you can imagine!" He kicked her again, agile beyond belief, and it struck her in the side. She stumbled, but then turned around once more, punching him across the face. He staggered to the side, giving Buffy the window of opportunity required to trip him and send him flying into one of the stone blocks behind him. He moaned softly. Buffy turned back to the wounded Pardozza who had now managed to get to her feet. Buffy grabbed the fleeing queen and turned her to face Mr. Pointy. Sinking the wood into her chest, Pardozza let out one final fleeing gasp before she exploded into a heap of dust, being scattered to the wind. Suddenly, the entire place was quiet. So quiet that the wind which rustled around them seemed loud and imposing. The mass of people gathered stared up at the stage, the spell gone from them. And as Buffy turned back to Darion, he gazed at her with wide, caring eyes, all the mystical light gone from them, and he bit his lip and looked down once more. As if in answer to Buffy's deed, Willow and Xander appeared on the stage just as a porthole appeared before the stage. "Jump," Buffy said to Willow. Willow nodded and hugged her. With a leap, the young witch leapt into the whirling vortex. Xander followed her lead and Buffy glanced once more at Darion, the wonderful guy who knelt by the sacrificial stone, and jumped into the porthole. 

"Buffy? Are you okay?" Willow asked as Buffy catapulted through the vortex and landed on the stone floor of the cave where the entire adventure had begun. "Yeah, I think," Buffy replied, looking over at Xander. He held his head and sighed. "Just another day here in good old Sunnydale, huh?" he asked cutely, "Or wherever the hell that was." Just then, through the hole in the sky came another form, the muscular and gorgeous frame of Darion landed nearby. "Oh my gosh!" Buffy yelled. She ran to him and urged him up just as the porthole closed behind him. He stood and rubbed his eyes, looking at her with a small smile. "I--" he began stuttering. "What are you doing here?" Buffy asked, angry. He looked at her with his deep puppy-dog eyes and gorgeous features and she adored him once more. "Don't send me back, Buffy," he pleaded, "I'll do anything for you, slayer, just don't send me back." 

Look for the next story with Darion and Buffy ASAP! I should have it done soon! 


End file.
